


Five 'Verses Where Pepper Potts Was Good... And One Where She Was Very, Very Bad

by shybob



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Iron Man (Movies), Resident Evil - All Media Types, Terminator - All Media Types, Wanted (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper, BAMF Pepper Potts, Evil!Pepper, F/M, Parent Pepper Potts, Umbrella Corporation, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-24 09:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1599437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shybob/pseuds/shybob
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In some realities Pepper Potts is much more (or less) than Tony's love interest or loyal personal assistant.  Crossovers with Terminator, Buffy, Resident Evil, and Wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pepper vs. SkyNet

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The B-Team](https://archiveofourown.org/works/686799) by [twistedingenue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedingenue/pseuds/twistedingenue). 



1\. Pepper vs. SkyNet

Pepper sat in the lab, working on the gauntlet. Every once in a while Dum-E would beep sadly, like that damn robot from Star Wars. C3PO? No...R2D2. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope. As if. No knight was coming to rescue this princess in the tower.

Pepper had painted all the windows on the secondary lab level with a thermally-reflective blackout paint. Then painted them again with a sound-canceling, vibranium-infused paint, ensuring nobody could use a laser emitter on the glass for electronic eavesdropping. She ended up crying through half of the job, because it reminded her of the Rolling Stones song, which made her think of Tony.

JARVIS was gone, because SkyNet mind-raped him and Pepper had put him down like a rabid dog. She’d done the core-wipe thing, which Tony had taught her after SHIELD (and HYDRA) had gotten froggy a few years ago. She thought it might be almost like losing a child, because there was no doubt that JARVIS had been a person, even if not actually human. 

It must have been a great shock to HYDRA when the disaster they engineered resulted in their own rapid and explosive demise. SkyNet had obviously computed that they were quite a threat, because overkill by nuclear fusion was the word of the day. And apparently SHIELD was down for the count, as well. Pepper sniffed again, and continued to work on the gauntlet.

Dum-E made a great lab assistant and watchdog: surprisingly good with blunt and sharp weapons, electrical and mechanical tripwires, and the first aid kit (not to mention the fire extinguisher). Pepper might even trust him with a Terminator’s 40 kilowatt plasma rifle, but it would be just a bit creepy.

Pepper slammed the screwdriver on the table. “Goddamit, Tony, why couldn’t you make the repulsors for the gauntlets and the boots interchangeable?” Of course, the only answer was Dum-E’s sad beeping. And Pepper knew it was because more force was needed in the boots when flying Tony-style, but it means she’s had to attach an oversize repulsor to the gauntlet.

It turned out (unsurprisingly) that an Iron Man suit partially lobotomized to prevent SkyNet hacking was not nearly the awesome machine she remembered from her two brief experiences. Plus, the suits’ chest plates were never configured for a pilot with breasts. And after half a dozen plasma bolts had smashed the holy hell out of the last remaining suit torso, she was down to gauntlet and boot repulsors, run off a jury-rigged ARC reactor salvaged from an older suit.

Pepper knew over four dozen ways to incapacitate Terminators and nine different ways to destroy them. Her favorites were a repulsor blast to the fuel cell (preferably at long range) or a focused blast to the chip’s armored cover (at point-blank range) to smash the coltan alloy plug down into the chip it was designed to protect.

For the ten-thousandth time she cursed Cyberdyne and the Pentagon, because she expected they would have learned a lesson after the Hammeroid attack on the Stark Expo back in 2010. But they hadn’t, and Cyberdyne was the only company that could offer a reasonable bid with Justin Hammer in prison and Tony firmly against providing either AIs or weaponized robots of any sort to the military.

Pepper used a multimeter to check the modifications to the gauntlet. In retrospect, she shouldn’t have been shocked she could learn how to do basic repairs to the suits. But she wasn’t Tony: neither a genius nor a real mechanic. She’s a part swapper who had learned how to use the computer to turn the building’s ARC reactor all the way down (really, idling power is sufficient for her needs) and connect wires to the replacement suit bits. 

The greatest irony was that Pepper would have died like everyone else she loved if the doctors had been successful at neutralizing the Extremis. She didn’t know whether to thank God for the oversight or not. “Oh, Tony.” She put her head down on the work bench and let the tears fall.

Pepper jolted awake as Dum-E prodded her gently for a second time. The remote sensors she’d placed on her trips throughout the wreckage of New York showed a patrol of three probable T600s ten blocks to the north, and they weren’t going to terminate themselves. Pepper slipped the modified gauntlet on and checked the range of motion and capacitor circuit. She eased into the two least damaged boots and shrugged on the backpack ARC reactor. A scarred helmet from the wall unit had a basic-but-useful targeting program installed, and Dum-E bolted the door behind her when she stepped out into the hall.

She’s Pepper Effing Potts, and she’s the Resistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES: twistedingenue's “The B-Team” got me all fired up about the supporting women of the Marvel movies. Chapter 1 was inspired by a throw-away line in "Robot Trip" by copperbadge.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Iron Man is property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Terminator 2 is property of James Cameron, William Wisher, Carolco Pictures, Lightstorm Entertainment, Pacific Western and StudioCanal. This work is not for profit, and no ownership of aforementioned copyrighted material implied, nor any infringement intended.


	2. Pepper vs. Motherhood

2\. Pepper vs. Motherhood

Pepper just KNOWS Dawn’s mom was a stripper. Because, seriously, what kind of name is Buffy? 

Having her former boss/husband/Iron Man killed during the course of taking out the Mandarin was bad enough. But dealing with the reality of taking care of a stepdaughter (because no, daddy isn’t coming home tonight, or ever) is just a bit much for the universe to throw at her.

Then there are the magazines articles about how she’s a widow and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, still keeping it together (TIME), or how a billionaire single mom coordinates her outfits for a power lunch with heads of foreign governments and members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (Vogue). Let alone the one about post-childbirth diets (People), because some third-rate editor didn’t catch the fact that Dawn wasn’t her biological daughter. Some days...

Some days she hopes Tony is burning in hell for sleeping around for the 80% of his adult life before he met her. And for leaving her a single mom. And for leaving her, period. Exclamation point.

But Dawn’s in her life and now she has to juggle raising a baby she didn’t plan for and running a company that employs almost half a million people. And she’ll be damned if she doesn’t succeed at both.

She’s Pepper Effing Potts, and she’s a mother by default.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 2 inspired by "Badass Princess" by ElzaCBoe
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Iron Man and all associated characters are property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy Productions, United Paramount Network, and Fox Television. This work is not for profit, and no ownership of aforementioned copyrighted material implied, nor any infringement intended.


	3. Pepper vs. Umbrella Corporation

3\. Pepper vs. Umbrella Corporation

Because Pepper on Extremis is hot!

 

The car that looked like any other 2012 Rolls-Royce Phantom (but wasn’t) pulled into the underground parking area of Umbrella Corporate Headquarters, NYC.

“Happy, you will stay in the car, no matter what, do you understand?”

“But Pepper,” the bodyguard huffed.

“Happy! I will call this off right now if I cannot count on you to absolutely, positively stay with the car. If I have to walk out the front door of the building after this, all my deniability is gone.”

“Yes Pepper.”

* * *

The doctors called it a ‘permanent vegetative state’ and said that Pepper really should consider pulling the plug. So she had, and that particular hospital no longer received donations from the Stark Foundation—that money was reallocated for the Wounded Warrior Project. Pepper had Tony moved into one of the smaller labs in the tower that she’d had retrofitted to be an intensive care unit, and the new physician and nurses were warned that giving up hope was not an option.

Outside running Stark Industries, Pepper dedicated every spare moment to becoming knowledgeable in the fields of gene therapy and stem cell research. She lacked the skills to run experiments, but she could read the journal articles and look at a prospectus, and she had a better grasp than most about the technologies that were likely to pay off.

So when Umbrella Corporation started making improvement in various medical treatments by leaps and bounds, Pepper felt something was not quite right. She’d had numbers people go over the data. They agreed with her; the data was TOO clean. Really, Umbrella should have let a statistician fix their numbers. No real trial was going to meet expectations to two decimal points.

Finally, there was a headline in the World’s Weekly News that proclaimed STARK TO BE CLONED BY UMBRELLA. Pepper knew it was time to pay them a visit. 

* * *

In the parking garage underneath Umbrella Corporation, Happy came around the car and opened the door for Pepper. It was purely for show as they both knew Umbrella had cameras and probably microphones in all areas of the building, even the parking garage.

“Happy, I may be a while. Wait in the car, please.”

“Yes, Ms. Potts.”

Pepper touched the temple of what appeared to be Louis Vuitton sunglasses (but weren’t) and the lenses became clear. She strode to the security cage at the elevator. “Ms. Potts to see Mr. Wesker,” she said to the armed security guard in the booth.

The guard was dialing even before Pepper finished speaking. “Sir, a Ms. Potts is here—very good, sir.” The man hung up the phone and told her, “Ms. Potts, the Chairman is expecting you. Please take the express elevator to your left.” 

“Thank you.”

Pepper resisted the urge to fidget as the elevator rose. The doors hissed open and Pepper walked down a hardwood-paneled hall to the only door, which stood open at the far end. She paused in the outer office. “Hello?”

“Miss Potts come in, come in,” a huge blond man called from the inner office. “I’m Albert Wesker. I apologize, my secretary had to leave early for an appointment.”

“I think the term is ‘administrative assistant.’”

Wesker smiled but the expression did not make him look any more friendly. He gestured for Pepper to sit in one of the uncomfortable-looking chairs in front of his desk. Wesker sat back down in the plush leather office chair behind his desk. “Pepper, please-”

“That’s Ms. Potts, if you don’t mind, Mr. Wesker.” Pepper rather fancied she could hear his teeth grind. Then Pepper blinked when heads-up display on her glasses read ‘LINK ESTABLISHED’ and Pepper eye-dragged to clear it.

Wesker noticed the minute change in her demeanor. “Are those the StarkShades I’ve heard rumors about? I really must dump my Google stock.”

“Just a prototype. Nothing worth upsetting the market, I’m sure,” Pepper lied. “Unfortunately, I’m not here to discuss your portfolio. I’ve been hearing some very disquieting things about some of your research.”

Wesker tilted back slightly in his chair. “We have so many departments, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“I am quite concerned about the paper on cloning by Ross, Tica, and Chin. It contains some data I have issues with.”

Wesker grinned. “You shouldn’t worry about the cloning techniques, you should be worried what people might try to clone.”

“And there we have the primary reason for my visit.” Pepper’s voice sharpened. “You have an illegally-obtained DNA sample from Tony Stark.”

“No, we don’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“We have a proprietary DNA construct obtained from partial samples of two individuals left on items in the garbage. And you know, once trash goes to the curb you have no expectation of privacy anymore, Pepper.”

“Wait, TWO individuals’ DNA?”

“Cloning really raises the hackles of so very many people. So we’ve actually got something that can be used for artificial fertilization. Don’t be nervous Ms. Potts, we’ll take very good care of your half of the DNA, along with—well, he’s not technically a sperm donor, but you get the point.” 

A simmering rage built inside Pepper until she stood abruptly. “Mr. Wesker, you have something of mine, and I want it now.”

“I believe we just covered the fact that it was a new, lab-created combination of DNA that we developed. Patent pending,” Wesker said.

Pepper leaned forward and planted her fists on Wesker's desk. “I am the CEO of Stark Industries and have power of attorney for Mr. Stark. I suggest you retrieve my property before I have to get unpleasant.”

“Unpleasant? You gold-digging whore, how dare you threaten me!” Wesker leapt to his feet and backhanded Pepper across the face. She rolled with the blow, and then straightened up to look at him. Wesker didn’t notice that her cheek had almost glowed for an instant, a little brighter than the flush from the impact and adrenaline would account for.

Pepper moved to adjust her ‘Shades but Wesker had already come around the desk and seized her wrist. He began to squeeze much harder than a normal human should be able. “Really,” Pepper said. “Are you using a knock-off Super-Soldier serum?” 

Wesker frowned at her comment and squeezed her wrist even harder; the bitch Potts should have been crying from the pain by now. It felt like the harder he squeezed, the hotter her wrist became.

“What a coincidence.” Pepper’s free hand struck Wesker in the sternum. The 275-pound man flew across the office and his head struck one of the bulletproof windows. He slumped to the floor, unconscious. The center of his shirt was slightly scorched.

‘FILE LOCATED’ glowed in small red letters on Pepper’s StarkShades. Pepper gently pulled the end of the left temple, and a small round section came loose, trailing a fine wire back into the glasses. She tucked the ear bud into her ear. 

“Miss Potts, can you hear me,” JARVIS asked. 

“Mmm hmm,” Pepper quietly answered. Using the eyeball tracking software Pepper selected ‘block communications.’

“All cell phone, landline, computer, and satellite connections for this facility have all been jammed,” JARVIS said seconds later. “Miss, you will need his retinal scan to access the lab downstairs.”

Pepper reached down and thumbed up Wesker’s right eyelid. “Retinal scan successful,” said JARVIS. The Director of Umbrella shifted slightly and moaned. Pepper reached into a pocket in her jacket pulled out what looked like a normal fountain pen (but wasn’t). A carefully-restrained jab injected a dose of powerful sedative into Wesker’s neck. 

“Miss, I’m projecting the pathway to the vault on your heads-up display. Take the express elevator down to basement level 2.” After a last glance at Wesker’s still-breathing form, Pepper returned to the elevator and pressed the button. 

The elevator doors opened and Pepper followed the projection on the left down a wide, white hallway. She stopped at the indicated door, stainless steel with a keypad and retinal scanner next to it. Pepper keyed in Wesker’s code as hacked by JARVIS, then used the StarkShades to project the pattern she’d scanned from the Chairman’s eyeball.

The door hissed open and man in a lab coat stared in shock as Pepper strode into the lab. “Security,” the scientist finally shouted as he hammered futilely at a button on the wall, just before Pepper jabbed him in the neck with the sedative pen.

Pepper followed the indicator on her ‘Shades to a freezer door. A massive push-button padlock secured it, and Pepper sighed. “I’m sorry, miss, I don’t have the code,” JARVIS’s voice in her earbud said. Pepper looked over at the unconscious scientist before turning back to the lock, then grasped it in one hand. She squeezed harder and harder, until her hand began to throb and glow. The smell of hot iron filled the room and the lock melted and Pepper pulled the freezer door open.

Pepper lifted out the sample. Her DNA, and Tony’s. She stared down at the tube nestled in her hand, and thought about Wesker’s “recombined DNA” comment. Tears ran down Pepper’s face as she very deliberately crushed the glass. Even as the pain from the broken shards registered, Pepper felt the now-familiar heat as her hand repaired itself and obliterated the sample at the same time.

She’s Pepper Effing Potts, and she’s going to war with Umbrella Corporation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES: Diane Castle’s story The Secret Return of Alex Mack reminded me how scary Umbrella Corporation is.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Iron Man is property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Resident Evil video games are property of Capcom, Shinji Mikami, Tokuro Fujiwara, Masayuki Akahori, Takahiro Arimitsu, Isao Ōishi, Yasuhiro Anpo, Kenichi Iwao Yasuyuki Saga. This work is not for profit, and no ownership of aforementioned copyrighted material implied, nor any infringement intended.


	4. Pepper vs. Stark Industries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place prior to IM1 in an AU where Pepper is a little less assertive and SHIELD is a lot less in existence.

Pepper is waiting for the elevator in the lobby when she sees Tony (that’s Mr. Stark), possibly returning from a late lunch, or more probably just arriving for the day. His eyes light up and he smiles as he walks over to the redhead.

“Hey there, gorgeous.” And he’s speaking to THAT woman from the legal department, younger and firmer and more titian than Pepper.

“Please, not in the office, Mr. Stark,” the petite redhead answers in a smoky voice.

“Relax, Ms. Rushman, I own the company.”

Ms. Rushman (Natalie, and how Pepper despises her) frowns slightly, almost pouting before she answers, “Hence the appearance of impropriety.”

Pepper wants to step forward, to interject, to gain the attention of one of the most important men in the industry. But she doesn’t. She knows the other woman is Tony’s (that’s Mr. Stark’s) fling for the month. And there’s no way that anything she has to say about accounting will register with the titular head of the corporation when he’s in the bimbo zone.

But she’s Pepper Effing Potts, so she will do the responsible thing and go report the discrepancies from the international accounting group (that’s arms sales) to Obadiah Stane in the morning.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: Iron Man is property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby.


	5. Pepper vs. the Fraternity (Wanted)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley Gibson never knew who his father was and that’s unfortunate, because it’s Tony Stark. Set several months after IM1.

The ebony coffin shone in the sunlight. Pepper’s eyes wandered over the people at the service so she wouldn’t have to stare at the coffin. She thought she might throw up (again) if she kept looking at it, thinking about it. So she stared at the senators, ambassadors, military officers, and business partners that surrounded the gravesite. 

Hundreds of people in attendance, and nobody else had known Tony. Not Tony the human being. All they knew was the image, the legend, the power he’d had that they wanted to use to advance their petty agendas. And she despised them all--even Rhodey, because he was there for the suit as much for Tony’s memory.

“...we commend to Almighty God our brother Anthony Edward Stark; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Pepper jerked her attention back to the priest, then let her eyes bounce from face to face of the crowd again. Yes, she despised everyone there, herself most of all.

* * *

Three months ago:

“Tony, I think the Chicago thing might be premature.”

“What?”

“I think we need to reevaluate what the effect of bringing two heavily unionized companies into our portfolio will be, middle- and long-term.”

Tony put his torx driver down on the workbench and swiveled around from the workbench to face her. “Pep, this is part of the new leaf.”

“Tony-”

“Pepper, this is the right thing to do. Chicago. Expansion. Clean energy. Medical technology.” He took her hands in his.

Pepper felt her blood pulse through her body. She stared into Tony’s eyes, dimly aware that he had continued talking. “Wait, what?”

“I said, it will be a good move for us. A bold new step.”

“Okay.”

“So, to be clear, you’re backing me on the Chicago acquisitions?”

“Yes, Tony.” She wondered if she sounded as breathless as she felt. 

* * *

Pepper stood and adjusted her black sun hat with the annoying veil. At least she didn’t have to fight her sensible heels on the cemetery lawn. Four of SI’s best security people formed up around her as Pepper started towards the car.

Pepper knew the workplace relationship clichés, had heard all the rumors, seen the freaking skit on SNL. But Tony had needed someone so badly. Someone who wasn’t his mentor, or stockholder, or floozy of the week. So she had poured her heart and soul into not just helping him, but trying to help realize his visions, to help him be better. And now? Regret over so many missed opportunities and so many things left unsaid.

To top it off, he had willed her the company. She had a controlling interest in Stark Industries. She—Virginia Potts—was the majority shareholder in the leading clean-energy tech company on the planet. And not just the stock: he had named her as interim CEO. The board was going to flip! They were looking for someone like Obadiah.

Pepper focused on the present again when someone blocked her retinue. She looked at the unassuming man in black and felt her blood pressure rise.

“Miss Potts, I know it’s not a good time-”

“Not now, Coulson.”

“Miss Potts, concerning the suits-”

“I said not now!” Pepper strode around Coulson and her bodyguards hurried to keep pace. 

* * *

Pepper had grown up in the 80s; she knew the whole Japanese ‘business is war’ shtick. And everyone knew about Chicago’s history of violence and organized crime, but she had never expected work-related violence now that Obadiah was gone. Now, two executions in as many weeks, tied to the Stark Industries expansion into the Chicagoland area.

First the head of a medium-sized electronics firm, who provided great quality control and reasonable prices despite the union, was shot—apparently from a moving L train. Then the president of a medical equipment development company was executed while commuting to work in a bulletproof limousine. Shot through the open sunroof, forensics said. 

The two companies that SI had been working to acquire had both been thrown into disarray with their corporate heads murdered. Civic leaders were up in arms and the media had a field day with it. Pepper was stressed beyond belief, while Tony...

* * *

10 days ago: 

“Tony, don’t go.”

“I’ve got to. This guy, Pekwarsky, says he has information for me about the murders.”

“Please, I’m begging you, don’t go.”

“Don’t worry, Pepper. Besides, you know what a careful guy I am.” Tony smiled at her and laid out his miniature hand-repulsor next to his briefcase.

“Don’t go quoting Harrison Ford at me, mister! Can’t you take some of the Strategic Homeland guys?”

“SHIELD? No, Pep. If this Pekwarsky guy sees a Fed like Coulson, he’s gone. And I need this info. The assassin is targeting Stark Industries, so it’s personal.”

“I just want you to promise me you’ll be careful. 

Tony grinned. “For you, I’ll be extra carefull.”

“Tony...” Pepper reached out a hand and cupped the side of his face.

“We’ll talk when I get back. Not about work, not about the company. About you and me.”

* * * 

And now Tony was dead, murdered by some punk kid. Happy was in the hospital, in critical but stable condition from the train wreck that had been caused by a shootout between the kid with a gun and Tony, without armor, just a stupid mini-repulsor.

Pepper—finally—had a name. The Fraternity. The file from Pekwarsky recovered from Tony’s body (too little, too late) said somebody had turned loose an ancient cult of assassins because they didn’t want Stark Industries in Chicago.

She’d gone through the data with JARVIS and it looked like AIM was the most likely candidate to hire the Fraternity. But for a 21st century organization of assassins, the Fraternity was surprisingly low tech. JARVIS said they had only one computer on-site, and it was not networked. So someone had to go into the fortress of a bunch of assassins and access the computer in person.

“Miss Potts, the new suit is ready,” JARVIS said. 

Pepper closed the files and stood up from the terminal in the workshop. “JARVIS, import all my preferences from the house computer and the simulator into the Rescue suit."

“Yes, miss.”

She’s Pepper Effing Potts and she’s going to crush the Fraternity. And when she finds out who hired them she’s going to destroy them, too.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thomas Clarke’s vision of Pepper suited up was my motivation for this part. http://tclarke597.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/art/MCU-Concepts-Rescue-Pepper-Potts-350961761?_sid=2a1abf98
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Iron Man is property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Wanted is property of Marc Platt, Jason Netter, Iain Smith, Jim Lemley, Chris Morgan, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Mark Millar, J. G. Jones.


	6. Pepper vs. the world

Yeah, this is going to be the chapter that makes everyone hate me.

Post IM2, pre-CAtWS. Bad word warning.

Inspired by Diane Castle’s AU collection Cross Purposes. 

* * *

Board meetings were much more tolerable now that Pepper knew she could kill everyone in the room any time she felt like it.

If Pepper hadn’t been enjoying un-life so much she would have cursed Tony Stark for his comment, “Relax Pep, we can walk. It’s not far.” It turned out that vampires weren’t at all scared of Iron Man when he wasn’t in a suit. They’d toyed with Tony before they drained him.

And they’d turned her. 

After Pepper had risen and made her way home she’d had to slag the stupid AI because really, how many times should someone have to answer the same questions about (lack of) body temperature and heartbeat? And no vampire plotting world domination needed a computer ratting them out to SHIELD.

By the time Thor inevitably left Midgard on some self-centered emergency, Pepper’s plan was ready to be set into motion. She locked the door against his return by spectacularly destroying the Selvig-Foster generator. Oopsie, the do-gooder scientists and their perky lab assistant died in the fire resulting from the equipment explosion.

Steve had been the easiest of the Avengers to deal with. His earnest nature and sympathy for ‘her recent loss’ made him more of a sap than usual. Pepper had lured him to a spot with no cameras, no windows, no witnesses. Then she’d torn his throat open (only tasting a little) and watched him bleed to death. Some of the chemicals Tony had stored in the tower made identifying cause of death quite difficult for the medical examiner.

Clint was only slightly more difficult. But the boy did have a thing for redheads, and Ms. Black Widow wasn’t wired for commitment, so Pepper didn’t have to work all that hard to get a secret rendezvous with Hawkeye. Objectively, she probably had the most to fear from the archer if he wasn’t quite so modern. Carbon fiber arrows with adamatium tips just didn’t work very well against vampires.

Bruce had been a thornier problem to deal with, as the surviving Avengers were being much more careful by that point. Who would have thought that Tony’s final reactor core would hold the key to reversing the gamma-irradiation that had resulted in the Hulk? The now-undead CEO was able to access the data Tony hadn't had time to share with Bruce; the solution wasn't elegant, but it was effective. When Banner was restored to merely-human he was no longer a physical threat to her. Although his blood had tasted funny.

By that point the Black Widow was highly suspicious—because it’s not paranoia when someone really is out to get you. But it turned out that if you were a turncoat Russian assassin and someone posted your frequent locations and aliases online, then your own (former, grudge-bearing) people would snuff you out in a heartbeat. 

In the old days Pepper would have had to worry about SHIELD all the time. But after she gave them the rights to a five year old weapon system (shelved when Tony developed a conscience in a cave) she had the Director eating out of the palm of her hand. Stark Industries wasn’t even going to manufacture the system for SHIELD. Pepper laughed aloud when Hammer Industries won the contract even though their CEO was still in prison.

The stockholders hadn’t complained when SI gradually sidestepped back into military contracts after Tony’s death. Besides, it wasn’t like they were selling guns or missiles. Just previous-generation ARC reactors for nuclear subs. And warships. And military bases.

She’s Pepper Fucking Potts and she will rule this world or destroy it in a cascade of ARC reactor overloads. Because, really, there’s no one left to stand in her way.

 

(ROLL END CREDITS)

 

“Miss Potts?”

“Yes, Emily?”

“Your three o’clock is here: Mr. Harris and Ms. Summers from the Kendra Young Foundation.”

“Send them in, please.” 

 

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * * *
> 
> DISCLAIMER: The Avengers and all associated characters are property of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy Productions, United Paramount Network, and Fox Television. This work is not for profit, and no ownership of aforementioned copyrighted material implied, nor any infringement intended.


End file.
